Sweet
by Lasmos
Summary: Mid-length one shot containing Rock Lee x OC fluff.


Sweet

Akira Toya watched the party move around her, people talking and laughing, yelling and sometimes hitting each other. She sighed quietly, allowing none of her sadness to show. Why she had come, she didn't know. The pink-haired girl had seen her walking through town and introduced herself as Sakura. Then she had said something about needing an even number, and insisted Akira come to her house for the party.

Akira shook her head. She had dragged Akira here for no reason she could find, but still she was here. She leaned against a wall near the snack table, listening for names and hoping someone she knew would come. Some of the boys glanced at her and seemed like what they saw, but none gave her a second look. She was pretty, but in a way that made her somehow unapproachable. That told her nothing she didn't already know.

She was considering the virtues of a timely escape when Sakura bellowed, "Time for Seven Minutes in Heaven!"

Akira had heard her little sister talk about that game. It had sounded like the sort of game in which the point was to humiliate the players. Sakura didn't give her a chance to vanish, however.

"Akira-chan will go first! It's all right if you don't know anybody." The last part was directed at Akira. She decided not to take offense, though she didn't think it was "all right."

Sakura was pushy enough to make her do it anyway, so she picked a piece of paper from the box the pink-haired girl held out.

"Dance." She glanced about to see which boy reacted to the word. The one wearing green with a strange haircut leapt up and gave her a bow she returned without missing a beat.

"My name is Rock Lee," the boy announced. "I shall do my utmost to ensure that-" but Sakura cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, Bushy-Brows. Get in the closet already." She gave Akira a sympathetic look as the boy obeyed. She didn't see why. He seemed sweet. Not as physically attractive as some of the others, but she knew how shallow looks could be.

Akira stepped into the closet. Sakura closed the door behind her and said, "Seven minutes!"

Akira stood on the inside of the door, waiting until her eyes adjusted to the dim light. When they did, she saw Lee sitting on the floor in the back, knees pulled up, hands on his knees, chin on his hands. He was looking at her. She studied him for a moment. His eyebrows were a little odd, but Sakura didn't have to hurt him that way.

"Hello, Lee-san. My name is Toya Akira." Her quiet voice made him blink.

"I am sorry, Akira-san," he said. "You are too pretty to be in here with me." His words returned the favor, making her blink.

As a reply, she decided on twisting his words around. "And you are too good a ninja to be in here with me." She had heard a few things about the Chuunin Rock Lee.

The shock on his face was entertaining, as was the way he suddenly pulled his head up from his hands. Akira's slight smile seemed to catch him off guard as much as her words. Truthfully, it did her as well. It had been a long time since she smiled without calculating its effect beforehand.

"What do you mean, Akira-san? You are beautiful and-"

This time it was she who cut him off. "But only a Genin. Only ever a Genin." The sadness in her voice made her turn away lest he see it on her face. Why admit that here, of all places?

Lee stood and moved over to her, patting her head gently. "Surely you could become a Chuunin, with the right training! Gai-sensei would teach you the secrets of taijutsu-"

The look on her face made him stop. It felt as though someone had slapped her, and she probably looked it.

"Akira-san?"

This was pitiful. She had met this boy minutes ago, and she wanted to give him the burden of her troubles. She took a deep breath.

"I have a... difficulty... that prevents any significant use of taijutsu techniques." She had to focus on the words to keep her voice from shaking.

"Akira-san," he said, his voice gentle.

She looked up into his dark eyes. What she found there surprised her. Not sympathy, but empathy. He knew exactly how she felt.

"I am unable to focus chakra in significant amounts."

Her eyes wideneed. He did know. How was it possible that she had been put in here with the one person in the world who _knew?_

The door opened suddenly, making Akira and Lee both close their eyes as light flooded the tiny space. Lee's hand had still been on her head, and he removed it.

Sakura laughed. "C'mon, you two, it's someone else's turn."

Akira made a show of rubbing her eyes to hide wiping away a few tears that had managed to leak out. When her eyes had adjusted to the normal lighting again, she saw Lee giving high-fives to some of the other guys.

She turned to Sakura, made her excuses, and fled. She did it slowly, but she was running away and she knew it. Lee had sounded like he didn't care in the closet, but he would if he were ever to fight beside her. They all did. She didn't want to hear him tell everyone about her condition - it wasn't exactly a secret, but she didn't spread it about - or know what they said. Perhaps he would even keep it to himself, but he would pity her. Who wouldn't? The Toya cripple. Pathetic.

Akira made her way across the village, not heading for home yet. It was already late, and she didn't want to hear her parents and Masajun yell at her just now. A walk in the woods was what she needed. The cool of the night would clear her mind, allow her to pretend once more that she didn't care what they said.

She was careful not to stray from the path, but knew she had walked too long when she stopped to catch her breath and couldn't. She sat heavily on the grass to one side of the path, panting, and leaned on a large rock.

The slightest sound of footsteps echoed through the forest.

Akira quieted her breath as best she could and drew a kunai from her pouch. Even she could manage a decent throw.

"Akira-san?" came a quiet call.

She sighed and tucked the kunai away again. It was Lee. "Here," she called, not sure how she felt about his being there.

He appeared at her side without warning, making her flinch. He had to have followed her out here. "Akira-san, why are you out here? You should rest for the morning."

Akira searched his open face for any trace of pity, and was a bit surprised when she didn't find any. He wasn't trying to coddle her. Honest concern was the only thing she saw. She gave him a small smile. "I just needed to think." She nearly had her breath back now.

His grin in response to her smile was huge and gleamed ridiculously, making her laugh before she could suppress the involuntary sound. Where had that come from?

His grin made her feel strange, bubbly and... strange. Similar to the time she had drunk sake stolen from her parents' stash. Her laugh made him laugh, and soon the two sat there laughing together as though they had known each other forever.

Lee was looking at her like she was the most beautiful person in the world, and with his gaze on her, she felt that way.

She calmed and watched him, still smiling. If this was how he made her feel, she wasn't sure she cared anymore whether he had told the others. It wasn't really a secret, anyway.

Then the feeling changed. A slight heat came over her face, realizing just how close he was to her.

He must have noticed at the same time, because his face turned a definite pink, one she could see even in the dim light of the sun's last few rays.

"Lee-kun... be still," she told him.

Uncertainty came onto his face as he took in the way her smile had vanished.

"Hai," he said. He held still, waiting for her to reveal the reason for the command.

Akira scooted closer to him and turned so their faces were only inches apart. The closer she got to Lee, the redder he got and the harder it seemed to be for him to hold still.

She set a gentle kiss that he would barely feel on the tip of his nose. His dark eyes were wide now.

She couldn't have torn her eyes from his if she had wanted to.

His heart was beating so fast she could feel it over the oh-so-short distance between their bodies, and she found that her own heart had sped to match.

She moved back, just a centimeter or so.

Lee leaned forward slightly, appearing not able to help himself. She reached up and flicked his forehead gently, reminding him of her instruction to be still, and he stopped.

She kissed the corner of his lips, lingering for a while, enjoying the fire that moved through her. Then she smiled her slow smile and leaned back against the rock.

Lee didn't move for some time. When he finally looked over at her, he wore a dazed expression that made him look even more adorable than that ridiculous grin.

"Thank you, Lee."

He looked confused, even a bit worried. "For what, Akira-san?"

She shook her head. Hopeless. "Call me Akira, please."

He relaxed again. "Akira." He treated her name as she knew he would treat her, with as much care as he would give a porcelain doll. But he wouldn't pity her - he would push her to new heights as he did himself.

"For everything."

Especially the things he might never realize.


End file.
